Refrigerator Pasta

On nights where I am feeling particularly lazy, I make pasta. Most of the time I make pasta with hodgepodge ingredients I have in the fridge. Tonight we are having spicy chicken pasta with peppers and onions. I rarely write down recipes so bare with me.

Spicy chicken pasta with peppers and onions
Serves 4

2 bell peppers,  roughly chopped (I used one red and one yellow)
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 large chicken breast, chopped in bite-sized pieces
1/2 c heavy cream (I seriously always have this on hand)
The juice of one lemon
2T of parsley. I used dry parsley today but fresh would also work
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
6-8oz of pasta (Any kind will do. I used Trader Joes egg pappardelle) 
Salt and pepper to taste

Start a pot of boiling water for your pasta of choice
Saute onion and peppers over medium heat with a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. ( I swear by cast iron. If you have a pan that is seasoned correctly it will last forever and will eventually become nonstick)

Saute until onions are translucent but peppers still have a bit of bite. No one likes soggy peppers. Then set aside in a separate bowl.

Brown chicken until completely cooked and then add the pepper and onion mixture to the chicken.Add parsley, red pepper flakes, lemon juice and heavy cream. Reduce heat to low.

At this point your water should be boiling. Generously salt your water then add pasta

Cook pasta until al dente then add the pasta to the chicken mixture. I reserve about 1/4 of the pasta water to add to the sauce. Stir until combined and increase heat to medium. Add pasta water and mix to ensure the noodles don't stick to the bottom of the pan. The pasta water will help the sauce thicken. This step will take about 5 minutes or so. When the sauce is clinging to the pasta, it should be finished.

More salt...(to taste of course)

Easy green salad and voila!

After taking all but the last picture with my iphone, it's seeming like I need to use the digital SLR for most of my pictures.
I eat really fast. This dinner was gone in no time.